The Value of Strong Brand Identity

Branding means business. Every year, Interbrand publishes a list of the 100 Top Brands in the world. And the brand value of the top performers – calculated apart from all other intangible and tangible assets – measures in the billions.

Even if yours is not among the top 100 brands on the planet, you likely know that branding is your best tool for staking out a competitive position in the marketplace. In fact, for true parity products, the brand is the competitive advantage.

Tactical Magic focuses on brand identity because identity is the heart of every brand - the focal point for strategic insight and the launch point for tactical creative expression.

A dynamic identity will lend power to every package, every website, every brand experience it touches. Likewise, a weak identity will diminish every brand experience it touches.

Brand identity is a tremendous opportunity for efficiency. A strong, strategically focused identity will add impact to each and every subsequent branding tactic.

And keep in mind that brand identity isn’t just about trademarks and trade dress. It also encompasses the positioning strategy that drives those things. That essential insight, the soul of the brand if you will, should guide all communications and touchpoint experiences.

Brand identity development and promotion calls for extraordinary creative discipline. After all, the brand lives more in the minds of your audience than in your marketing department. So what we say matters much less than what people choose to remember and believe. But what we say can influence what they believe – if we are engaging, relevant and respectful.

Respectful branding reflects the tastes, ethics and narrow attention span of its audience.

Effective branding requires that we apply a single-minded strategy to each and every piece of communication in order to reinforce one true, unique, persuasive promise to the market.

Starting with brand identity.

brand • n. 1 a a particular make of goods. b an identifying trade mark, label, etc. 2 a special or characteristic kind (brand of humor). 3 an identifying mark burned on livestock etc. with a hot iron. 4 an iron used for this. 5 a piece of burning, smoldering, or charred wood. • v. 1 mark with a hot iron. 2 impress unforgettably on one’s mind. 3 assign a trade mark or label to.